For a photo of Mary Kay Andrews, please click here.

Hissy Fit:
Author Mary Kay Andrews Shares Her Delicious Social Satire
On North Carolina Bookwatch, Sunday, October 9, at 5 PM

Mary Kay Andrews's heroine in her new novel, Hissy Fit-interior decorator Keeley Rae Murdock-has designed her whole life, right down to the antique Oriental rug planned for the foot of her bed. What she never counted on was discovering her fiancé, A.J. Jernigan, cavorting with her maid of honor in the middle of her rehearsal dinner.

On the upcoming episode of UNC-TV's local literary series North Carolina Bookwatch with DG Martin, Sunday, October 9, at 5 PM, Andrews shares her delicious social satire that will be sure to satisfy fans of fine fiction.

In Hissy Fit, Andrew's heroine pitches one-a hissy fit that reverberates through her tiny hometown of Madison, Ga., and captures the attention of many, including Will Mahoney, a freckled newcomer.

"I think a hissy fit is a temper tantrum; but it is a temper tantrum that is provoked by something. In the case of my new novel, the protagonist, Keeley Murdock, is at her rehearsal dinner the night before her wedding and catches he fiancé in a compromising position with her best friend," says Andrews. "She just can't walk away from it and so she "pitches a hissy" as we say in the South; and faces are slapped, names are called and china is slung and that's where the story begins."

Darker than the book's fluffy title suggests, this black comedy set in a small town is ripe with shocking secrets. 

"I am interested in small town secrets and the fact that in the South, particularly, the past is never really in the past-it's buried just below the surface. There are these secrets that are bubbling up; and people know them and try to repress them and I am interested in the conflict that results from that," admits Andrews. "In a small town where everybody thinks they know you-and they not only know you but know your grandma, granddad, aunts, and uncles-that, I think, also brings a lot of potential for conflict and rich character studies."

Mary Kay Andrews is a former journalist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the author of Savannah Blues and Little Bitty Lies. She lives in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Don't miss DG Martin's all-new interview with Mary Kay Andrews on North Carolina Bookwatch, Sunday, October 9, at 5 PM, only on UNC-TV!

During this season of North Carolina Bookwatch, guests also include: Shannon Ravenel (New Stories from the South, 2005), Emily Herring Wilson (No One Gardens Alone), Randall Kenan (Walking On Water), Ann B. Ross (Miss Julia's School Of Beauty), Lawrence Earley (Looking for Longleaf), Peter Perret (A Well-Tempered Mind), Timothy Tyson (Blood Done Sign My Name), Moreton Neal (Remembering Bill Neal), Quinn Dalton (Bulletproof Girl), Henry Petroski (Pushing the Limits), Bill Morris (Saltwater Cowboys), Amy Tiemann (Mojo Mom), Robert Irwin (Robert Irwin 40 Years),  Tommy Hays (The Pleasure was Mine), Jerry Shinn (Loonis! Celebrating a Lyrical Life), Michael Parker (If You Want Me to Stay), Lawrence Naumoff (A Southern Tragedy, in Crimson and Yellow), Martha Witt (Broken As Things Are) and Gerhard Weinberg (Visions of Victory: The Hopes of Eight World War II Leader).

Funding for North Carolina Bookwatch is provided by UNC-TV members and by Quail Ridge Books and Music, Raleigh's independent, full service bookstore, bringing readers and writers together since 1984.

North Carolina Bookwatch is part of UNC-TV's ongoing commitment to produce programs for and about North Carolina. UNC-TV is the statewide 11-station broadcast network of the University of North Carolina. For more information, please visit www.unctv.org/ncbookwatch.

For more information about North Carolina Bookwatch and UNC-TV's other local productions, please visit our website at www.unctv.org.

-UNC-TV-